It starts with a perceived injustice then builds quickly from there. Vibrating deep within the body, anger rises to the surface, turning down mouth corners, narrowing eyes, and flushing the skin.
Pouting and stewing over the “unfairness,” the student loses the inner battle for control and loosens a torrent of outrage, tumbling from the mouth and quaking through the body.
Fists slam on desks. Papers are thrown. Tears are shed. And it happens right in the middle of your classroom.
Although more common in primary grades, lapses in emotional control seem to be happening more and more with upper elementary and middle school students.
Such behavior is grossly immature—of course, for any school-age student—and not worth getting worked up over. But it can also be dangerous. And if handled poorly, you can make the situation worse or cause it to repeat itself over and over again.
Tantrums are very normal for children between the ages of 18 months and 4 years, dealing with them can be very frustrating and sometimes embarrassing experiences for teachers, parents, and caregivers. Tantrums tend to occur when children lack daily routines, when they are expected to change activity without warning, or when they lack the skills needed to meet adult expectations.
As parents and teachers will certainly attest, children do not stop having tantrums at a magical age. Indeed, older children, even teenagers, engage in tantrums but are a bit more sophisticated in their approach—yelling, name-calling, slamming doors, and so on. When intervening with older children, the same general strategies provided below apply. Just remember that older children and adolescents are more practiced in their tantrum skills, are likely to hold out for longer periods of time, and can rapidly escalate into destructive or dangerous behavior.
Teachers must take fast control of explosive situations and lessen the chances of them happening again. This, if not atleast lessen your burden, will help teachers in time of controlling outrageously immature behavior.
1. Protect
Your number one responsibility is the safety of your students. So as soon as you notice a student losing control, shift your focus to the rest of your class. Ask them to stay clear of the ill-tempered student. Situations like this underscore how important it is that yourstudents respect you, trust you, and follow your directions as soon as you ask.
Note:If ever you sense an incident escalating beyond your control, call for help immediately—an administrator, campus police, or teacher next door.
2. Wait
Resist the urge to rush in and try to calm the student. For at least the next several minutes, jumping in to try to fix things could put you and your class at risk and incite more aggressive behavior. Unless you absolutely have to step in to protect one or more of your students, keep your distance.
3. Observe
Continue waiting while keeping an eye on both the student in question and the rest of your class. Don’t say anything to the student. Simply observe until the student calms down and returns to his (or her) seat. As the student begins to settle down, it’s okay to say to him calmly, “Have a seat and we’ll talk about it later.”
4. Continue
It’s important to return your classroom to normalcy as soon as possible. Continue with your lesson or activity as if nothing happened. If the student doesn’t choose to participate, so be it. Let him marinate in his own decisions for a while.
5. Stay Clear
Stay clear of the student for at least a couple hours. If the tantrum happened at the end of the day, let the student leave and deal with it in the morning. Only when the student is behaving normally and the incident is forgotten should you approach.
6. Enforce
Although it’s important to followyour classroom management plan, there are times when you must change the script. For potentially dangerous situations, you reserve the right to jump past the warning and time-out steps and go directly to an extended time-out. A half day is reasonable.
7. Inform
For serious behavior issuesparents must be notified. Because an emotional outburst is difficult to communicate in a form letter, it’s best to call home—not to discuss the incident, but to inform. Just give the facts. Tell the parent what happened and what you’re doing about it. How they handle it at home isn’t your concern.
Before considering what to do when a child has a tantrum, it is far more important to remember what not to do. The two cardinal do-nots for dealing with tantrums are:
- Do not try to reason with the child, get the child to see the error of his or her ways, or coax the child into good behavior.
- Do not give the child what he or she wants (for example, a preferred food at mealtime) or allow the child to escape or avoid what he or she does not want (for example, picking up toys in the classroom).
The problem, though, is rarely a lack of emotional control. The problem is that the adults in his life have a hard time saying no to him. They indulge him. They appease him. They cave in to his demands, arguments, and histrionics. To ensure it doesn’t happen on your watch, to do what is best for the student and his future, don’t let him off the hook. Don’t give him stickers when he handles himself the right way. Hold him accountable for his behavior. Allow him to feel the gravity of his actions. Send the message that we can’t always get what we want; that in order to learn, to grow, to mature, to become better and more successful people, we have to behave with grace in the face of disappointment.
Most children who lose emotional control have been subject to too much talk.
If parents and teachers use these strategies consistently but still see an increase in the intensity, frequency, or duration of a child’s tantrums, they should consult the school psychologist, a behavior specialist, or the child’s physician. Persistent tantrums as well as other inappropriate behaviors might indicate the need for a comprehensive evaluation. An immediate referral should be made if the child starts exhibiting self-harming behaviors or becomes destructive toward others and property. In later childhood and adolescence, a referral should be considered if the child seems excessively moody, withdrawn, or depressed.
References:
http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2011/11/12/how-to-handle-temper-tantrums/
By: Mr. Ulysses Gabriel | Teacher III | Sta. Isabel Elementary School | Dinalupihan, Bataan
